Apparatus for coking coal



June 8 1926.

R. B. KERNOHAN APPARATUS FOR COKING COAL Filed August 12 192 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

WITNESSESS ATTORNEYS June 8 1926.

R. B. KERNOHAN APPARATUS FOR COKING GOAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed August 12. 1922 INVENTOR WITNESSESS AT T0 R N EYS.

Patented June 8, 1926.

ROBERT B. KERNOHAN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR CURING COAL.

Application gled August 12, 1922. Serial No. 581,296.

In my co-pending patent application Serial No. 529,8 i9, there is disclosed a horizontal coke oven provided centrally with a non-combustible core, which, with the walls of the oven, forms narrow vertical coking chambers arranged one on each side of the core .and extending from end to end of the oven. In the operation of the oven coal is charged into the narrow chambers in the same manner as it is usually charged into the entire oven, but, because of the diminished width or thickness of the body of coal to be coked, the coking operation is completed more rapidly than when the entire oven is filled, and the resulting coke is more uniform in quality and may be readily broken into sizes suitable for blast furnace use. At the end of the coking operation the coke is discharged from the oven chambers, either by pushers which operate between the oven walls and the core, or by a pusher which simultaneously removes the core with the coke, the core in the latter case being returned to the oven after each discharging operation.

Several forms of cores are illustrated in said application, but each form includes blocks of refractory spaced apart in horizontal planes by metal bars. These blocks and bars are bound into a unitary structure by means of tie rods which extend from top to bottom and from end to end of the core. For maintaining the core centrally within the oven chamber, guides project laterally from the side of the cor-e substantially to the walls of the oven, the guides being attached to the core when it is intended to removethe core as the coke is discharged, or being movable with relation to the core when the coke is discharged with out removing the core.

The object of the present invention is to improve the apparatus disclosed in the above mentioned application, with particlular reference to the construction of the core and the discharging of the coke. One specific object is to provide a core formed of segments so connected to each other as to permit of .a considerable latitude of independent movements resulting from thermal expansion and contraction. A further object is to provide apparatus whereby the coke may be compressed before it and the core are simultaneously removed from an oven.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings of which Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic elevation of the complete apparatus, the coke oven being shown in vertical section with the core arranged in it; Fig. 2 a View similar to Fig. l, but showing the core removed from the oven; Fig. 3 a horizontal sectional view of the coke oven to enlarged scale, the plane of view being indicated by the line 1H-1H Fig. 1; Fig. 4 a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the oven shown in Fig. 1, the plane of view being indicated by the lines IVIV, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 a vertical sectional view taken on the line VV, Fig. 4:; Fig. 6 a side view to enlarged scale of some of the segments interlocked to form a core; and Fig. 7 a sectional view taken on the line VII-VII, Fig. 6.

According to the present invention the core for dividing the oven into narrow coking chambers comprises a plurality of relatively small segments having their edges, preferably their vertical edges, interlocked by connections which permit of independent movements of the segments with relation to each other but which effectively unite the segments in such a manner that the core may be removed from and returned to an oven, the general arrangement being such there are reduced to a minimum the detrimental effects of the warping and of the expansion and contraction of the core and of its parts which are due to variations in temperature and other working conditions. The construction of the entire core may be best understood by first explaining the preferred form of segments of which it is made, although it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular form of segments disclosed, but contemplates mechanical equivalents thereof capable of functioning in substantially the same way.

The construction of the segments, and the preferred manner in which they are assembled to form a core are illustrated to en larged scale in Figs. 6 and '2. Each segment may consist of a central rectangular refractory block or tile 1 and a band of metal 2 engaging the top, bottom and ver tical sides of the block. The segments are preferably formed by casting steel bands around the central blocks. which are arranged in the molds before the metal is poured. To allow for shrinkage of the metal bands when thus cast, each block 1 may, as shown, be formed in four parts which may have tongue and groove connections 20 at ot the their meeting edgesj In setting a multiple part block in a mold its parts are slightly separated and are subsequent y drawn together by the contraction of the metal while cooling. To retain the blocks firmly within the bands, each block is preferably provided. with a convex peripheral portion or portions 3, so that when the metal band is cast upon the block it terms a. concave surface which engages the convex; face or faces of he block. vi 'hile the invention contemplates various forms of connections for interlocking the segments with each other along their edges, ret'era-bly one vertical edge of each block is provided with a chambered groove 4 and the other vertical edge with a 'l'-head projection 5 adapted to tit rather loosely in the corresponding groove 1} of an adjacent block.

In forming a core 01 the particular character just explained, the segn'ients are arranged in vertical tiers with their groo l and T- heads 5 in alignment, the T-heac of one tier engaging the grooves of the adj lcent tier. Preferably the horizontal joints are broken by making some segments e her larger or smaller than the uniform size of segments which form the main body of the core. In the core 6, as seen particularly in Fig. l, the l end is madeot a tier of segn'icnts 7 of umtorm. size, while the adjacent tier oi segments has an upper and lower segment 2' ot la r size. As shown at the right end of Fig i, the upper and lower sc ientg '4 0t theend tier are smaller than the remaining segments '4' and than the uniform sized segments of the adjacent tier. In either or both ways the horizontal joints may be staggered, and the projections or grooves oi? mostblocks may be interlocked with two grooves or projections of adjacent blocks. Preferably the core rests upon a shoe 22 which maybe formed of blocks of cast steel, breaking joints with the tiers of segments, and having recesses 23 (Fig. 5) in their tops adapted to receive projections formed on the lower segments of the tiers.

its further shown in Figs. 6 and T, 'uides for centering the core are preferably termed on some 01' the segments, either by casting laterally projecting vanes 8 integrally with the peripheral metal bands 2, or by forming vanes 8 as parts of the refractory center blocks 1. For a reason presently to be explained, it is preferred to provide guides only on segments which, when the core is in the oven, are adjacent to the discharge end of the oven.

In Fig. 1 there is diagrammatically illustrated the several units of apparatus coking coal in horizontal ovens with a c tral core such as explained above. At the left or discharge end of the oven is a guide 10 of usual construction "for directing the coke into a car 11 as it is discharged from an oven 12. This guide also supports the core and prevents the tiers of segments thereof from falling downwardly as the core is removed from the oven. A continuation 13 ot the core-supporting portion of the guide is provided to receive the entire core, and a hood 1.4: is preferably arranged above the guide to protect the metal parts of the core against oxidation. In Fig. 2 the core is shown in its position removed from the oven and protected by hood 14:. Guide 13 and hood 14- may be mounted on a truck 21 so that a core may be readily taken from one to another of a bank o'l ovens.

Means are provided at the right hand end of the oven for discharging the coke and for removing the core from and drawing it back into an oven. t is known that when coke is discharged from an oven by a pusher, the pusher compresses the coke an amount depending on the structure of the coke. The means for discharging the who from the oven are preferably constructed to first compress the coke and to thereafter simultaneously remove the core and discharge the compressed coke. This may be accomplished by providing a, forked pusher 16 (Fig. 3). the sides of the pusher which form its forked end being ot the length required to compress coke ot a given structure to such extent that little it any compression will take place after the cent a1 portion of the pusher engages and moves the core.

As previously explained, the centering guides 8 or 8 formed on some of the segments are preferably included only on those segments whichv are adjacent to the discharge end of the oven. By omitting such guides from segments adjacent to the end of the oven through which the pusher enters, and disposing the guides in horizontal planes, the coke may be compressed without much resistance by the guides. That such resistance as the guides may offer to the compres' sion of the coke may be reduced to a. minimum, both edges of the guides are preterably tapered to form cutting edges 25. This permits the coke as it is being initially compressed by the pusher to readily slide upon the upper and low r horizontal faces of the guides, and permits the coke, particularly the portion thereof adjacent to the discharge end of the oven, to similarly slide upon the vanes in case the coke is not fully compressed when thecore starts to move.

For returning the core to an oven, the pusher head may be provided with chains 17 or other suitable means for engaging the end tier 0i segments. Because all the segments which form the core are interlocked in the manner explained, the entire core may readily be drawn into the oven. By so positioning the pusher that it acts along the center line of the oven, the core segments adjacent to the pusher are so pulled into the oven that they arrange themselves centrally of the oven, and the remainder of the core is centered, at least in part, by the guides 8 or 8 The operation of the oven is as described in my above mentioned application and as briefly explained above. By reason of the core being constructed of segments so interlocked that they may move with relation to each other without impairing their connections, the expansion and contract-ion of the segments and the possible warping of the core as a Whole has little if any detrimental effect.

According to the patent statutes, I have described the principle and operation of my invention together with the construction which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced by other forms of construction than that particularly shown and described.

I claim:

1. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of segments provided at their opposite sides with means for connecting adjacent segments to each other, said connecting means permitting independent movements of the segments with relation to each other.

2. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of segments provided on their opposite sides with interlocking tongues and grooves permitting independent movements of the segments with relation to each other.

3. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of interlocked segments each consisting of a refractory block center and a peripheral metal rim.

4. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of interlocked segments each consisting of a sub stantially rectangular refractory block and a metal band on its upper, lower and vertical sides.

5. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow Vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of rectangular segments arranged in vertical tiers with broken horizontal joints, the vertical sides of said segments being interlocked.

6. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of rectangular segments arranged in vertical tiers and provided on their vertical sides with interlocking grooves and projections, the vertical sides of the segments being interlocked with two adjacent blocks whereby the horizontal joints of the core are broken.

7. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of segments connected to each other, a portion of said segments being provided with laterallyextending horizontally-disposed wanes formed integrally with the segments for centering the core in the oven.

8. A core for dividing a horizontal coke oven into narrow vertical coking chambers, said core comprising a plurality of segments consisting of a refractory block center and a peripheral metal rim, a portion of the segments being provided with laterally-extending centering guides formed integrally with the refractory blocks.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

ROBERT B. KERNOHAN. 

